On an average night, there are about 900 children in youth detention around the country.
The number of people aged 10 to 17 in youth detention has increased by 10 per cent in the last four years, and nearly half of all young people in prison are First Nations.
There have been a range of tough on crime policies introduced by state and territory governments in recent years, with a focus on incarceration and punishment.
There have been long-running calls for another approach to this issue, for the response to be one focusing on health and support rather than imprisonment.
The Reintegration Puzzle Conference, run by the Justice Reform Initiative in Adelaide in late June, featured a number of youth justice experts from around the world that have successfully led a different approach, with much success.
They showed that there is a different path forward when it comes to criminal justice, imparting a message of hope and opportunity.
Scotland
In late 2024, Scotland got all of its children out of prisons and youth detention centres.
Instead, children are placed in small, trauma-informed and child-appropriate secure accommodation.
Scotland has also moved from a system focusing on punishment to one centred on prevention and community-led responses, and has put the Convention on the Rights of the Child into its domestic law.
“The culture has fundamentally changed – people understand that we’re talking about prevention and keeping kids out of the system,” Scottish justice expert Karen McCluskey, who led the public health reforms, said in her keynote address.
“Prison is like an infection – once you get it, it becomes lifelong and life-limiting.”
The change in approach in Scotland has seen a more than 90 per cent drop in the number of children and young people prosecuted in Scotland’s courts, and a 97 per cent reduction in prison sentences for children aged 16 and 17.
“If you’re building jails right now for 10 or 15 years in the future, that’s like saying you’re going to fail your kids who are in kindergarten today,” McCluskey said.
“That is not an aspiration for a country. We believe in need and not deed. So we look at what children need and what young people need, not what they’ve done.”
On an average night, there are about 900 children in youth detention around the country.
The number of people aged 10 to 17 in youth detention has increased by 10 per cent in the last four years, and nearly half of all young people in prison are First Nations.
There have been a range of tough on crime policies introduced by state and territory governments in recent years, with a focus on incarceration and punishment.
There have been long-running calls for another approach to this issue, for the response to be one focusing on health and support rather than imprisonment.
The Reintegration Puzzle Conference, run by the Justice Reform Initiative in Adelaide in late June, featured a number of youth justice experts from around the world that have successfully led a different approach, with much success.
They showed that there is a different path forward when it comes to criminal justice, imparting a message of hope and opportunity.
Scotland
In late 2024, Scotland got all of its children out of prisons and youth detention centres.
Instead, children are placed in small, trauma-informed and child-appropriate secure accommodation.
Scotland has also moved from a system focusing on punishment to one centred on prevention and community-led responses, and has put the Convention on the Rights of the Child into its domestic law.
“The culture has fundamentally changed – people understand that we’re talking about prevention and keeping kids out of the system,” Scottish justice expert Karen McCluskey, who led the public health reforms, said in her keynote address.
“Prison is like an infection – once you get it, it becomes lifelong and life-limiting.”
The change in approach in Scotland has seen a more than 90 per cent drop in the number of children and young people prosecuted in Scotland’s courts, and a 97 per cent reduction in prison sentences for children aged 16 and 17.
“If you’re building jails right now for 10 or 15 years in the future, that’s like saying you’re going to fail your kids who are in kindergarten today,” McCluskey said.
“That is not an aspiration for a country. We believe in need and not deed. So we look at what children need and what young people need, not what they’ve done.”
Hawai’i, USA
US state Hawai’i moved from a punitive model to a trauma-informed one, and has seen an 80 per cent reduction in youth incarceration since 2010.
The largest youth prison in the state was rebranded to the Kawailoa Youth and Family Wellness Center, providing education, mental health support and reintegration services.
In 2022, there were officially no girls in youth detention in Hawai’i, the first time in the last 60 years.
Matelina Aulava, the Youth Facility Administrator for the Office of Youth Services at Kawailo said the reforms started with a conversation around how children should be treated.
“When they are in a bright, safe, loving and caring environment, these kids can change so much, and be the leaders that are going to change the community,” Aulava said.
“It’s not ‘how do we punish the kids?’, it’s ‘how can we heal this child?’. We look at them as a whole person, not just a piece of the system.”
New York, USA
Until recently, teenagers aged 16 to 18 years old charged with a crime were treated as adults in New York City.
Under the Raise the Age law, the age of criminal responsibility was increased from 16 to 18, as part of wider youth justice reforms.
Vincent Schiraldi, the former chief executive of corrections, probation and youth justice in New York City, said efforts have been made to provide better environments for youths and to keep them close to their family and communities.
This involved placing children ideally in their own home with wraparound services, instead of in youth justice facilities hours away. When this is not possible, children are put in small, home-like facilities around the city.
“If people are engaged in the process of the dehumanisation of young people in the system, part of the antidote has to be humanisation,” Schiraldi said.
“We have to get these young people out of these terrible facilities and into the kinds of supports that we would want for any of our own children.
“If we could treat young people in this system the way we would want our own child to be treated, we would be fine.”
Spain
Spain has driven a world-leading rehabilitative model for young people, focusing on individual development rather than punishment.
The Diagrama Foundation now runs 38 centres across Spain, providing support to children and young people at risk of social exclusion.
In these facilities, security guards were replaced by social educators.
Since then, recidivism rates for young offenders is now at 15 per cent, after hitting historic highs of about 85 per cent.
“We don’t see the kids as risks coming to our centre,” Diagrama Foundation chief executive Dr David McGuire said.
“We see them as kids that have needs, and we want to fulfil these needs. The first principle is respect, dignity and human rights. That is the base of our work.
“We are not there for punishment, we are there for rehabilitation and to move things forward.”
McGuire said the Spanish government was desperate and had taken a risk on the new model for youth justice. “We proved to them we could do it,” he said.
“And now we’ve got this amazing world-class model. “Our priority mission is empowering the people, because they are the leaders of tomorrow when you are far gone. So that change needs to happen now. We empower, we build resilience so that they can come out and make the changes in the community.”
Hawai’i, USA
US state Hawai’i moved from a punitive model to a trauma-informed one, and has seen an 80 per cent reduction in youth incarceration since 2010.
The largest youth prison in the state was rebranded to the Kawailoa Youth and Family Wellness Center, providing education, mental health support and reintegration services.
In 2022, there were officially no girls in youth detention in Hawai’i, the first time in the last 60 years.
Matelina Aulava, the Youth Facility Administrator for the Office of Youth Services at Kawailo said the reforms started with a conversation around how children should be treated.
“When they are in a bright, safe, loving and caring environment, these kids can change so much, and be the leaders that are going to change the community,” Aulava said.
“It’s not ‘how do we punish the kids?’, it’s ‘how can we heal this child?’. We look at them as a whole person, not just a piece of the system.”
New York, USA
Until recently, teenagers aged 16 to 18 years old charged with a crime were treated as adults in New York City.
Under the Raise the Age law, the age of criminal responsibility was increased from 16 to 18, as part of wider youth justice reforms.
Vincent Schiraldi, the former chief executive of corrections, probation and youth justice in New York City, said efforts have been made to provide better environments for youths and to keep them close to their family and communities.
This involved placing children ideally in their own home with wraparound services, instead of in youth justice facilities hours away. When this is not possible, children are put in small, home-like facilities around the city.
“If people are engaged in the process of the dehumanisation of young people in the system, part of the antidote has to be humanisation,” Schiraldi said.
“We have to get these young people out of these terrible facilities and into the kinds of supports that we would want for any of our own children.
“If we could treat young people in this system the way we would want our own child to be treated, we would be fine.”
Spain
Spain has driven a world-leading rehabilitative model for young people, focusing on individual development rather than punishment.
The Diagrama Foundation now runs 38 centres across Spain, providing support to children and young people at risk of social exclusion.
In these facilities, security guards were replaced by social educators.
Since then, recidivism rates for young offenders is now at 15 per cent, after hitting historic highs of about 85 per cent.
“We don’t see the kids as risks coming to our centre,” Diagrama Foundation chief executive Dr David McGuire said.
“We see them as kids that have needs, and we want to fulfil these needs. The first principle is respect, dignity and human rights. That is the base of our work.
“We are not there for punishment, we are there for rehabilitation and to move things forward.”
McGuire said the Spanish government was desperate and had taken a risk on the new model for youth justice. “We proved to them we could do it,” he said.
“And now we’ve got this amazing world-class model. “Our priority mission is empowering the people, because they are the leaders of tomorrow when you are far gone. So that change needs to happen now. We empower, we build resilience so that they can come out and make the changes in the community.”
